In my U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,356, I disclosed a novel rocket powered flywheel engine, in which a flywheel is driven by rocket engines. While the engine is quite efficient, there is a notable loss of energy in the form of heat and pressure from the rocket ignition.
In the patent, a simple housing was provided to contain the rocket exhaust, and direct it outward through discharge ports. No disclosure was made of any apparatus for increasing overall efficiency, since it was considered at the time that the engine would operate with significantly improved efficiency over the conventional internal combustion engine. The primary thrust of the patent is the engine's basic operation. However, it has since been discovered that further improvements in efficiency of the engine can be gained by utilizing energy that would otherwise be lost in the exhaust from the engine.
Rocket engines are currently in use for lifting huge payloads at extreme thrust and acceleration into orbit around the earth. The difficulty with jets and rockets in relation to land vehicles, however, is that they are reactive engines and work with thrust rather than compression and drive, and that a rocket is typically useful only for a short duration. Even so, jet and rocket engines are significantly more efficient than internal combustion engines.
It is always desirable to maximize the efficiency from any fuel burning engine, to minimize fuel loss and pollution. Thus it becomes desirable to make use of the heat energy expended by such engines.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,549 to Kellenbarger discloses an internally propelled flywheel engine. The flywheel is driven by thrust from exhaust ports leading outwardly from ignition chambers formed within the flywheel body. The engine is arranged with valving such that the exhaust gases are not constantly vented but are valved, as are intake and ignition portions of the operational cycle. It is also stated that this engine may make use of external combustion with pressurized gases being delivered through piping to various exhaust jets for the purpose of forcibly rotating the flywheel. Heat and friction loss through the external combustion system results in reduced efficiency.
While efficiency greater than that obtainable by conventional internal combustion engines may be available in the Kellenbarger engine, there still remains the need for an engine using thrust for driving a flywheel that utilizes the maximum potential energy of the fuel, and that is also efficient in construction and that may be easily adapted for different driving requirements.
It is a primary object of the present invention, in keeping with my earlier patent, to introduce advanced technologies used in space industry, into practical domestic industrial applications, in a unique propulsion driven flywheel engine, with improvements enabling maximum utilization of potential energy from the thrust producing fuel. The above and still further objects and advantages of the present engine improvements will become more apparent upon reading the following description which, taken with the accompanying drawings, disclose preferred embodiments of the present invention.